ILO director arrived in Manila

The regional director of the International Labor Organization (ILO) arrived in Manila on Tuesday to visit the worst hit areas by Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) and review efforts to rebuild livelihoods there.

Yoshiteru Uramoto, the ILO assistant director-general and regional director for Asia and the Pacific, is scheduled to hold talks with the survivors of the typhoon regarding the emergency employment programs being implemented there by the organization and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Uramoto is the ILO’s most senior official in Asia Pacific. He will be in the country until December 13 (Friday).

He will be visiting Tacloban City and the surrounding areas today (Thursday), and will be accompanied by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and ILO country director Lawrence Jeff Johnson.

While in the Philippines, Uramoto is also set to meet with workers’ and employers’ organizations, as well as with officials of the United Nations.

The ILO has been working hand-in-hand with the Philippine government in implementing its emergency employment programs for those affected by the typhoon. More than 1.6 million of some 11 million affected by the destruction in eastern Visayas were in vulnerable forms of employment before the disaster happened.

The organization urged the Philippines to ensure that these workers, who are leaving on or near the poverty line, won’t be running the risk of having vulnerable employments again once the rehabilitation program for the areas affected gains ground. BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON